


Should Have Never Gone To That Stupid Cult Meeting

by UAs_Fics



Category: South Park
Genre: Gen, Murder, Pre-Cannon, religion references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 02:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UAs_Fics/pseuds/UAs_Fics
Summary: A strange man helps Carol McCormick pay for her groceries. In return, she and her husband promise to attend a religious meeting at his house as thanks--and for the free beers and child care.





	Should Have Never Gone To That Stupid Cult Meeting

  
If Kenny had been born right now, in this day and age, his father probably would have been arrested. If Carol had lived in a bigger city, and not a small town, she wouldn't have had to marry him to keep both their family's reputations up. If so many factors hadn't been in play, Carol McCormick would not be a seventeen year old drop out with two children trying to decide between knock-off brands of tooth paste.

She readjusted the infant on her hip as she read the tooth paste box. This brand was cheaper, but it tasted horrible. She considered forgoing the tooth paste all together on her shopping list, but decided against it. Carol dropped the box into the cart with a sigh. If she was going to try and get a job soon, at the very least she wanted to do was flash a white smile at the interviewer.

"Com'on, Kevin," She called over her shoulder to her eldest. The toddler blinked at her before dropping the deodorant and waddling over. Kevin bounced on his feet and gabbed up at her with his grubby hands.

"I can't hold both of ya and push the cart." She glanced at Kenny on her side before walking around the front of the cart. She gently set him inside the baby carrier between the pasta noodles and PopTarts. The infant looked up at her with wide blue eyes, but didn't cry at being set down. Instead, he yawned and let his head roll back and eyes slip shut.

Carol smiled down at him. Once she got herself a good paying job, she'd make sure he and his brother would never want for anything. He would be able to wear clean clothes everyday and eat three square meals, plus dessert. The only hand-me-downs Kenny would get would be from Kevin, not from the Good Will like what he had on now.

Carol shook herself out of her fantasy then walked back around to pick Kevin up and continue her shopping.

~~~~

"$24.40?" Carol gasped at the register. "But, no, I did the math as I went, it should be only be $18.70. Ya must of scan somethin' twice!"

The cashier looked at Carol with a pitiful gaze before shaking her head. "I didn't. I'm sorry, Carol. You still owe five dollars and twenty four cents."

Carol felt her stomach drop. With a heavy sigh, she looked over the scanned items, trying to decide which items the family could do without for two weeks. At her feet, Kevin pulled at her pant legs. He wanted to be picked back up again.

"Not now, Kevin," Carol chided, pulling his hands off her. He glared before shoving the cart in frustration. Awoken from his nap by the sudden movement, Kenny began to quiver his lips. It didn't take long before he began to cry. Their mother swore, stooping into the cart to try to calm the baby down.

She became uncomfortably aware then at the line of people waiting for her to finish so they could check out. All of them stared at her with varying degrees of pity and annoyance on their faces. She picked Kenny up, bouncing him in a vain attempt to hush him.

Carol felt her face heat up as she started to ask the cashier to take off the post natal vitamins. She didn't really need them, right? Women back in the old days had children all the time without them, and they lived healthy lives!

"Excuse me, miss? Let me pay the difference."

Carol looked up in surprise as a man handed the cashier a five dollar bill and a quarter. The man grinned at Carol. She knew she had seen the man around town before, but for the life of her she couldn't remember where or when. To her, he was just another face in the crowd.

"T-Thank you!" Carol stammered as the man took her bags and set them in the cart.

"Oh, it's nothing," he told her. "Good deeds repay themselves in time, you know." Carefully ushering Kevin along with him, he pushed the cart forward and out of the way of the other shoppers. Kenny sniffled, but began to quiet, instead leaning against his mother's chest with his eyelids drooping down. Carol let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you again, mister." Carol smiled at the man. "Is there something I can do to repay you? I ain't got money, but maybe I can do your laundry for you?"

The man smiled and shook his head. "Oh, no, no. It's no trouble at all. May I?" He held out his hands towards Kenny. Carol hesitated, and the man quickly added, "I don't mean any harm. My own children are grown and seeing your child is making me nostalgic."

"Oh, um, alright then." Carol passed her son towards the man. "Careful of his head now."

"Of course," the man replied. He cradled Kenny in his arms. Kenny continue to rest soundly, not bothered by the change in arms around him.

"His name's Kenny." Carol told him as she picked Kevin up. "And this here is Kevin."

"What fine names for fine boys," the man complimented. "I can tell they both have very bright futures ahead of them. Very, very bright."

Carol hummed in agreement. She hoped they did. Her babies deserved good futures. It was only fair, seeing how shitty her own life was. That was what the Buddhists called 'Karma', wasn't it?

"Miss?" The man asked suddenly. "May I propose something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, you see, some friends of mine are hosting a little bit of a meeting at my home." The man petted the back of Kenny's head as he spoke. "And we need seat fillers. Would you mind coming? We have child care and free beer."

"What kind of meetin'? Could I bring my husband?" Carol asked. Kevin pulled at the collar of her shirt, and she had to grab his tiny hands in hers to stop him.

"Of course, you can bring your husband. It's just a little get together to talk about religion." The man smiled again, but this time, the smile was too wide. Too many teeth. Carol suppressed a shudder.

In the back of her mind, she felt a red flag go up. Why hold a talk about religion at a house? The church always let people use their rooms for free when it was a meeting about God. Maybe the meeting was about a different part of Christianity. While most of the little town they lived in were Roman Catholic, Carol did know a few people who weren't. Like those Brovfloski folks that lived on the other side of the train tracks. They were Jewish, weren't they?

Still, something didn't seem right, but Carol pushed the thoughts from her mind. Sitting through a meeting with free beer and child care was the least she could do as a thank you for the man who helped her out.

"'Course, we'll be there. What time and where?"

~~~~

Stuart groaned as he pulled their old beat up Ford to the house that Carol pointed to.

"Do we really have to do this? The game's on!" He whined, turning back in his seat to unbuckle Kevin from his car seat.

"He paid for our groceries." Carol snapped. "'Sides, he said they're be free beer."

"Free beer you can't even legally drink," Stuart mumbled under his breath. Carol bit her tongue from snapping at him. Not in front of the boys. She wasn't going to fight in front of her children. She didn't want them growing up know just how much she despised their bastard of father for getting her into this life.

Carol hopped out of the truck before picking up Kenny in his baby carrier. Stuart slammed the door then walked around, Kevin in his arms. The door opened even before the family reached the front step.

The man from the store hurried out, that same too wide smile on his face. "Greetings, greetings, Mrs. McCormick, and you must be Mr. McCormick." He held out his hand towards Stuart, who shook it.

"You must be the man who helped my wife out at the store the other day. I wanna thank you for that. It means a lot to our little family." Stuart told him, as if he hadn't been complaining on the ride over.

"Do come in, both of you. You can leave the little ones in the first room on your left. " The man waved his hand as he ushered them in.

The room for the children was a small bedroom. Simple and plain with paintings of flowers on the wall. A few other children played together with toys in the corner. An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair. A half finished blanket and knitting needles in her wrinkled hands.

The moment Kevin's feet touch the floor, he ran over to the other children excitedly. As Stuart told Kevin to play nice, Carol walked Kenny over to the old woman. The woman looked up from her knitting. When her eyes landed on Kenny, her whole face lit up.

"Oh, and who is this deary?" She asked, wagging her finger in front of Kenny. The infant stared at her curiously before he began to kick out his legs. Carol wasn't sure if that meant he was excited to meet the woman or if he had gas.

"This is Kenny," Carol told her. "I put an extra diaper in this bag. I fed him before we came, so he shouldn't be hungry, but there is a bottle in the bag, too." Carol considered warning the woman that Kenny didn't take the bottle well, but didn't.

Because of that dislike towards the fake nipple, Stuart liked to joke that Kenny was going to grow up to be a man who appreciated the finer breasts in life. Honestly, Carol was inclined to agree, seeing how greedily her baby suckled at times.

"Kenny, what a wonderful name." The woman cooed while she took Kenny from the carrier. "The Old One will make fine work of you in due time, little one."

Carol furrowed her brow. She'd heard God referred to by plenty of names, but 'Old One' was new. Though, she had to admit it was apt, since God was older than anything else in the universe. Maybe this was just one of those sects that didn't like to use 'God' when referring to Him. Yeah, that was probably it. So not to take His holy name in vain.

She brushed back the few golden locks of hair on Kenny's forehead before telling her sons her goodbyes and following Stuart to the meeting.

The meeting was held in the basement. Plastic chairs lined all the walls except for one, which had a foldable table filled with food and drinks. In the middle of the basement, a white sheet covered the floor. Five, tall, unlit holders stood around the sheet.

Stuart raised an eyebrow at Carol. She shrugged. It was weird, unlike any meeting she had seen at the church. But that was ok, right? Just because it was different didn't mean she should be scared. Carol had spent a lot of her free time lately watching PBS, trying to culture herself out of the old way of thinking she'd been brought up in. No matter how strange, this was just like watching those documentaries. She was going to learn something tonight and better herself.

Carol tugged Stuart towards the food table. She picked up a styrofoam plate and began to pile a few cookies and cheese cubes onto it.

"Carol?" A voice to her left said. She turned.

"Oh, uh, hi, Mr. Adler." She greeted her old shop teacher. Mr. Adler took a tissue from his pocket and wiped his forehead. He had a cut across it, and his wiping disturbed the scab. He didn't seem to notice.

"I didn't know you were a follower of the Old Ones." Mr. Adler took a cookie from the table.

"This is our first meeting."

"Well, good. We need more young people in our group, especially in times like these."

Carol nodded. She didn't want to say that they only planned to come to this meeting, so instead she asked Mr. Adler about his wife and how her flying classes were coming along. With a grin, Mr. Adler launched into a story about her. He even went as far as to pull out pictures from his wallet of her and her plane.

Carol stood and listened. Stuart had abandoned her, instead sitting in one of the plastic chairs with a beer in hand, talking to the owner of the Italian restaurant. He looked just as bored as Carol felt. As Mr. Adler began talking about how some of the kids in his class wouldn't stop screwing around, the lights dimmed.

"Oh, guess it's starting," Mr. Adler said around a half eaten cookie. He left Carol and wandered over to his seat. Carol quickly refilled her plate before making her way over to Stuart.

"There are some weird folks here." Stuart whispered as she sat.

"Just let them do their thing. This is the only one we have to come to. Cheese?" She offered her plate. He shrugged and took a cube. In exchange, he offered her his beer. She took the can and sipped. In the back of her head, she knew she shouldn't be drinking. Not until Kenny was fully on the bottle, at least, but just one beer tonight couldn't hurt. Kenny already ate, and by the time, he was hungry again, all the alcohol would be out of her system.

"This beer taste funny to you?" She muttered, taking another drink regardless.

"A Little. Nothing to worry about. It's free, after all." Stuart shrugged.

Before she could reply, the door to the basement opened. Three robed figures walked down the steps. The ones at the front and back each carried candles while the middle held a large book in his hands. Solemnly, the trio walked to the podium. The candle bearers set their candles in the holders that flanked the podium as the middle set his book down on the polish wood.

He held up his hands before speaking.

" _Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn_ ," he proclaimed. In rehearsed measure, the crowd replied in kind. Carol didn't know what that meant, but figured it was probably Latin of some Bible verse. The man dropped his hands then reached up and pushed back his hood. The man who had invited the McCormicks leaned against the podium.

"Welcome, one and all!" He greeted. A few lackluster voices greeted him back. His smile wavered a moment before he swung his arms out. "Tonight is a big night! But before we get to our celebrations to honor the Old Ones, let us greet our newest members. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick, could you come up here for a second?"

All eyes turned towards the couple, and for the first time, Carol noticed just how many people were attending this meeting. Enough people, that she didn't really think they needed any seat fillers.

"Now, don't be shy! We're all children of the Great One, after all." The man encouraged.

Carol glanced at Stuart before she set her plate and the beer aside and pushed herself up. Stuart grabbed a handful of cheese before following her up. Carol waved nervously to the crowd as Stuart ate another cheese cube. Suddenly, she wished she'd brought the beer with her, if just to have something in her hands.

The faces in the crowd looked excited. Was it really that big of a deal if she and Stuart came to this church meeting? Maybe they were just one of those really happy sects, bringing people to God should be a joyous thing, after all!

Holding onto that thought, Carol dropped her hand. She made a grab for Stuart's as he had finished his last cheese cube. He squeezed reassuringly. One meeting or not, this was strange. But, just because it was different didn't mean it was bad, right? Just like the smooth voiced PBS narrator talked about.

The man nodded, and they went back to their seats. With that too wide smile, he addressed his congregation, "Alright, everyone I have amazing news! Our dear oracle, blessed by visions from the Old Ones, has found our offering! We've been looking for the perfect one for a long time now, and He has finally blessed us!"

The crowd chanted back in that same weird Latin.

Carol leaned over to ask her husband. "What do you think that offering is?"

"What's that stuff the Wise Men gave Jesus? Frankenstein or something? Probably that." He suggested.

Before she could reply, the basement door opened once again. A hunched figure made their way down the stairs. When the figure finally got off the last step, Carol noticed they were carrying something in a blanket. Carrol leaned closer. Whatever it was, it looked like it was moving.

Stuart wrinkled his nose. "If they do animal sacrifices, groceries or not, we're leaving."

Carol nodded, scooting closer to him. She wrapped one arm around his as she tried to suppress the unease raising in her stomach.

The figure stopped in front of the sheet on the floor. After a curt nod from the figure, the candle bearers hurried forward. They quickly lit the candles around the sheet before one of them pulled the sheet itself away. A strange symbol had been drawn on the floor: a circle with a odd starlike shape inside.

Stuart hissed, "Did you sign us up for a Satanist meeting, woman?"

"Oh, God, I think I did!" Carol tried to keep the shaking from her voice. It wasn't her fault if she did, though! There is nothing wrong in assuming this would have been a Christian meeting! Pretty much everyone in town is Christian! She wasn't even sure it was legal to be a Satanist in South Park.

The cult leader raised his hand, and the cultists silenced their chanting. He walked around the podium beside the figure. He nodded to them, and the hunched figure pushed back their hood. The old woman who was suppose to be watching the children shook out her wispy hair.

The unease in Carol's stomach started to transform into dread. She looked to Stuart, who sat rigidly beside her.

"Let's sneak out," she whispered. He nodded slowly. Just as the two began to stand up, a muffled cry froze them both. The old woman unwrapped the wriggling bundle in her arms. The muffle crying grew in volume.

Kenny thrashed his little fists around as he bawled. Even as fear grabbed at her heart, Carol took a small comfort in knowing that wasn't Kenny's scared cry, but his fussy one. They had probably woken him up from a nap.

"What the fuck?" Stuart growled. He rose his volume before marching over. Carol tried to stop him, holding his arm, but he shrugged her off. Still shaking herself, she followed close behind him.

"Give me my son, you freaks!" Stuart snapped as he neared. Carol began to walk around him. She was not above ripping her baby out of this old woman's arms if she had too.

Just two steps away from Kenny, one of the candle bearers grabbed her wrist. He twisted it and forced her whole arm behind her back. She let out a strangled cry of pain as the candle bearer dragged her back before doing the same action with her other arm. The other bearer as well as one of the crowd had a hold on Stuart. Carol shot a look over the crowd in a vein hope that maybe someone would leave their seat to help her, but no one moved.

The cult leader smiled at them. "You mustn't interrupt our offering to the Old One."

"But fear not, this is for the better," The old woman told them as she bounced Kenny in her arms. "The Old Ones may grant him powers beyond our mortal comprehension. If They don't," a judgemental tone crept into her overly sweet voice, "well, wouldn't that be all the better for you two and your situation?"

The cult leader waved his hand for the people holding Carol and Stuart to step back from the circle. Carol tried to fight it, to dig her heels into the floor, but to no avail. She shot a look to Stuart. He was fuming. His lips pulled back to reveal a snarl and eyes narrowed venomously. He struggled against the hold on him, so much so that Mr. Adler left his seat to stand closer, readying to help.

"Now, if there is no more objections, let the ceremony begin!" The cult leader shouted something in that weird Latin and raised his arms. The old woman marched into the middle of the circle and set Kenny down. He was still crying, but it grew louder and more frantic as he kicked and hit against the cold grey floor.

At that moment, Carol would have given anything to be able to scoop him into her arms and hold him close.

Three cultists from the crowd stood and walked around the circle, each at a different point of the star. The old woman and the leader took the last two points.

The cult leader began to chant something, and Carol didn't really think that it was Latin anymore. One by one the other members around the point began to join in, creating a round that echoed through out the basement.

"For it is not to be thought that man is either the oldest, nor last of Earth's masters. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones will be! _Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn_! In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthuhlu waits dreaming!" The leader said in practiced measure. The other cultists lowered their own chanting as he continued, "Great Cthuhlu, as you sleep, we present you with a life, new to our world, to do of as you wish!"

A purple haze began to fill the room. She couldn't see any fog machines or dry ice buckets. The haze just seem to appear out of no where. Carol felt her head spin. This was all too much! Way, way too much!

The leader took a long step into the circle, towards Kenny. He dropped to his knees then reached into his robe. From his robe, he pulled out a thick, ornate dagger. Carol's heart near stopped.

"No, no, no..." She whimpered, pulling harder against her captors. "No, no, no, NO!" The tears rolled down her cheeks now. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream. There had to have been something in the beer! This was a dream! Carol heard Stuart yell something, but she didn't know what.

The haze began to thicken around the cult leader and Kenny. For a moment, Carol was sure she saw something in the haze, a creature on two legs with wings. It's golden eyes burned into Kenny as it's claw seemed to reach out to touch him.

"That is not dead," the cult leader chanted, raising the dagger over his head, "which can eternal lie."

As he brought the dagger plunging down, a final surge of adrenaline over took Carol. She kicked backwards as hard as she could. The man holding her yelped and stumbled back. She dove forward without wasting a second, praying to God that Kenny would be alright.

The only sound Carol could hear was that of her own heart beat pounding dull thuds against her ribcage. Everything felt like she was in slow motion. Carol pushed one of the cult members aside, just as the dagger plunged into Kenny's belly.

"And with strange aeons, even death may die," The cult leader finished, pulling the bloody dagger out.

"No! No! What did you do?" Carol screeched, diving for Kenny. She pulled the limb infant into her arms. Through the tears, she could see his blue eyes, the same color as Stuart's, dull and staring into nothing. Blood stained her shirt as she held him close. Sobs shook her.

Her baby, her sweet innocent baby!

It wasn't fair! He had barely got to live at all! How was he suppose to grow up and do better than her if he was dead? Now he would never grow up, never marry a pretty girl, never have children of his own. All of that taken away from him! It was all her fault. She was the one who did her math wrong at the store. She was the one who agreed to come. She was the one who gave him to that old woman. All of this was her fault. Kenny was dead because of her.

A chill wrapped around her then, though not from her own guilt. The haze thicken. It weight heavy against her skin, like a wet blanket. It seemed as if the whole world was gone, the cultists, the basement, even Stuart. All that was left was Carol, Kenny's body, and the haze. A heavy breathing made Carol look up.

The creature from the haze stared down at her with golden eyes. A terror she could not describe gripped her whole body as it reached a claw out towards Kenny. The moment the claw touched him, there was a flash then everything went dark.

~~~~

Carol couldn't remember what happened that night. She remembered going to the meeting, dropping Kevin and Kenny off upstairs, and drinking some bad tasting beer, then a there was a black spot. Right after the black spot, she remembered being shoved into the back of a cop car and having her rights read to her. She had to ask Stuart when they were both called up to tell the police which relative to send the boys as to what crime they even committed.

"Cultish activities and disturbing the peace, apparently," he had said as he scribbled down his mother's address for the officer.

A few months later, Carol had chalked it up to drunken stupidity and put the whole night behind her.

As she washed the dishes, Carol hummed to herself. Kevin and Kenny were in the living room playing, or Kevin was playing anyway. Kenny merely laid back on a blanket as Kevin ran around with his toy truck. Stuart was out in the backyard, trying to fix up the old car back there. He was so sure he was going to flip it for a profit, but the rusty junk bucket didn't even turn over.

Still, she was happy he had a hobby that he would be able to share with the boys when they grew older. Maybe one of them would grow up to be a mechanic or an engineer! Those are good, respectable jobs.

Carol wiped dry the plate she was holding with a rag. The rag had been made of an pink shirt that Carol couldn't remember actually getting. It was a size too small, and the pink clashed with her skin tone. So once it got a tear in it, Carol felt no guilt in cutting it up for rags to use around the house.

As she set the plate aside, she felt something tugging at her pant leg. She looked down to see Kevin. He danced nervously back and forth on his feet.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Carol asked.

"Kenny took my toy." Kevin frowned. "I want it!"

Carol sighed with a smile before patting his head. "Come on, let me help you." Kevin took his mother's hand and dragged her to the living room. He stomped over to Kenny and pointed at him.

"Kenny ate my toy!" Kevin crossed his arms with a firm nod. The amused smile on her face fell. Her blood ran cold as she sat down on her knees next to Kenny. His chest wasn't moving. Why wasn't his chest moving? Carol brushed her hair behind her ear and pressed her ear to his chest, over his heart.

Nothing.

Eye's wide, she scooped Kenny up and placed his stomach against her knee, frantically patting his back.

"Kevin, help Mommy and go get Daddy. Go get Daddy right now!" She shouted. Kevin furrowed his brow but started for the kitchen and the open back door. Carol could hear him shout out the door for Stuart as she tried desperately to remember what to do. In her minds eye, she could see the poster at the doctor's office that explained how to do the baby Heimlich maneuver, but all the details were missing.

She knew she couldn't use the normal Heimlich on a baby. It would hurt him more! Oh, why couldn't she remember that stupid poster?

The back door shut and heavy foot steps made thier way through the house.

"What's Kevin shouting about?" Stuart asked. "He said something about helping with a toy?"

Carol looked up, choking back a sob. "He's choking, Stuart. I don't know what to do!"

Stuart gasped and dove down beside her. He took Kenny, about to try something when he froze. He stared down at the motionless baby in his arms. He pressed his fingers against the inside of Kenny's elbow then began to shake his head.

"Don't just sit there, stupid!" Carol snapped. "If you know something, do it! I-I can't...lose..." Then she broke down into sobs, leaning against his shoulder.

"Oh, God. Oh, God, why?" Stuart whispered, holding Kenny to his chest. Carol grabbed his shoulders and weakly shook her husband.

"Do something. Do something! Do something, please!" She begged.

"I...I can't. He's gone, honey." Stuart croaked. Carol rested her head against him. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening!

"Mommy? Daddy?" Kevin whimpered. Tears pricked his own eyes. She knew he didn't understand the situation and was just crying because his parents were. Carol pushed herself away and pulled Kevin into a tight hug.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. The police arrived and then the ambulance. Carol held Kevin close to her the whole time, refusing to put him down. For his part, Kevin didn't seem to question this, instead leaning against his mother's shoulder. The only question he asked was while they were taking Kenny away.

"Where Kenny going?" He asked, reaching towards him with grabby hands.

"K-Kenny's going to Heaven, honey." Carol whispered. "He's going to go to Heaven, and we ain't gonna see him for a--for a long time."

~~~~

That night Carol lay awake, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. The bed sagged as Stuart sat down. He put a hand on her arm and squeezed.

"He's...Kenny's in a better place now." He spoke as if he was reciting a card, emotionless and flat. Carol wondered if she even believed that at this point.

Carol grunted in response. Stuart watched her for a while before heaving a sigh and crawling under the covers. She left herself get pulled against him. He muttered something, but she wasn't sure what. She felt too numb to care. The gossipy whispers were right. She wasn't a fit mother. She should have given both of them up. She was just adding to the chain of failures that she'd married into.

All of a sudden, this all felt familiar. Too familiar. The guilt, the pain. This had happened before.

As her brain tried to process this and find the memory these emotions attached to, she felt an uncomfortable feeling in her belly. Soon enough, the uncomfortable feeling grew into a sharp pain. She groaned and pushed Stuart back. With her hands on her stomach, she curled into a ball.

"What's wrong?" Stuart asked, alarmed.

"I dunno! It hurts!"

Under her fingers, she felt her stomach distend and stretch. Something kicked against her hand, and she flinched back. Her eyes shot wide and she pulled her hands away. There was a distinct imprint of a tiny foot pressed against the skin of her stomach. That was something she hadn't seen in the months since Kenny was born.

Since Kenny was...

The memories flooded back then: the chanting, the dagger, the blood, the pain, the haze, but most of all those eyes. Those golden eyes that even the memory of made her body lock up.  
  
Before Carol could focus on the wave of horrible memories, another spasm of pain wracked her body. For the fourth time in her short life, Carol experienced the pain of birth.

~~~

Carol held Kenny against her chest. She was tired, so tired, but Kenny was back. He was alive, just like at the cult meeting.

Stuart stared at her then asked in a small voice, "What are we going to tell people? The police and everyone else?"

"I don't know. Will anyone believe us?" She brushed Kenny's hair from his face. His eyes peeked open. They looked different in a way Carol couldn't describe. Same blue, same shape, but still different. Older, maybe. Like he knew more than a baby should. He observed her not like a child to their parent, but as if Kenny was watching some sort of natural phenomenon play out before him. She shuddered and blinked. When she looked back down again, the look had vanished.

After everything that had happened, she chose not to question it.

Kenny cooed up at her. He reached for her face. She leaned down. He took her cheeks in his hands. His hands were warm against her clammy skin.

"No, no one will believe this," Stuart mumbled. He set a hand against Kenny's stomach. His shoulders relaxed. Was he expecting to feel a wound there, Carol wondered.

Kenny laughed at nothing in particular before a yawn forced open his jaw. His eyes drooped down, and he rested his head against Carol's chest. It was amazing: how he could act like he hadn't died only hours before.

Carol wondered about his body that the EMTs took away, and how Kevin would take it when she told him that his baby brother wasn't gone forever. She wondered if this was a one time thing, or if Kenny would die again and come back the same way. She wondered if he had gone to Heaven, or if he wasn't dead long enough for that. She wondered a thousand little things, but didn't dwell on any of them for long.

Pushing all jumble of thoughts aside for now, Carol suggested, "Let's just put Kenny in his crib and deal with all this in the morning."

~~~

"Mooooommy! Mooooommy!" Kevin grabbed at her sheets, tugging them back. "Up! Get up! It's breakfast time!"

Carol groaned. She hurt all over, but didn't know why. After another tug from Kevin, she rolled over to look at him. He'd gotten out of his crib again. She thought she told Stuart to fix that. The last thing she needed was Kevin wandering around the house in the middle of the night. He could get hurt.

Carol yawned then pushed herself up. She stretched, wincing when her joints loudly popped. She was too young to hear that in the morning.

"Breakfast!" Kevin said again. "For me, and Kenny. He's hungry!"

"Kenny...?" Carol frowned. Her eyes shot wide. "Kenny!" She darted out of the room, almost slamming into the door across from her and her husband's. Throwing it open, she hurried to the crib and stared down. Kenny looked groggily at her. After a moment, his eyes lit up, and he began to move his arms and legs.

She heaved a sigh and reached down. Carol brushed the back of her fingers against his cheeks.

"What's with all the racket this early in the morning?" Stuart yawned. He walked into the nursery with Kevin in his arms.

"It's Kenny, he's, he's..." She trailed off, wrinkling her brow. Carol felt like she was forgetting something, something important, but when ever she tried to focus on it, it came up as just a black haze.

"Yeah?" Stuart prompted. "Kenny's what? What's wrong with him?"

Carol shook her head. "He's hungry." She plucked the baby up and held him against her. "Come on, why don't I go make my boys some breakfast?" Kevin let out a cheer, nearly hitting Stuart in the head when he threw his arms up. Carol laughed as they left for the kitchen.

Whatever she was forgetting, if it really was important, she'd remember it, sooner or later.

**Author's Note:**

> In researching for this one shot, I tried to read one of HP Lovecraft's works where the 'ph'nglui mglw'nafh' blah blah blah shows up, and I couldn't make it half way and ended up just looking through the wikipedia entries on Cthulhu and Necromonicon instead. >.>, 
> 
> Anyway, I headcannon that Kenny's parents only remember about his curse when it's time for him to return to life, but forget like everyone else by the next morning. Otherwise, I think they'd get jaded to his constant deaths over time and just...stop reacting or holding funerals (which are expensive, and why waste money if he's just going to come back, ya know?).
> 
> [My art tumblr if you wanna follow me there](https://uas-art.tumblr.com)


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